Author's Note

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.

Well, this is my first attempt at a Pokémon fan-fic and I'm hoping to go far with it. Most of the people in this story are going to be based off people I know in real life, so hopefully they won't be turn out to be bland or boring or unoriginal. Many of the events that take place will also be based on real-life ones, but with the Pokémon universe twist.

First off, I know you're not technically supposed to capitalize a Pokémon's name unless it's their nickname (ie. bulbasaur, charmander, squirtle) but I'm gonna do it anyway. Secondly, I've seen debate on whether or not Pokémon can talk with their trainers in human tongue. In this story's world, I'm going to have technology that will let them do that, a translator if you will. The only exceptions to this would be psychics and some ghosts/darks or others who can learn psychic/telepathic moves. Oh, and legends, obviously.

Also, I tried to use the poké-money symbol, but Fanfic wasn't having it. :P

Other than all that...enjoy!

Warning: This story's gonna be rated T due to language and violence. I mean, it shouldn't get too bad, but I just wanna be safe.

Chapter 1 - What We All Want

"Nah, I'm not really sure what I wanna start out with...definitely a fire-type though..."

My eyes darted across my computer screen, scanning over a long list of available Pokémon being sold at the Department Store this weekend. Goldenrod always had new arrivals for adoption Friday through Sunday, but those Pokémon were usually ones intended to be pets or for Coordinators to train for contests. Sentrets, Pichus, Hoppips, Sunkerns-cutesy Pokémon that weren't exactly what one would call 'fighters'. On occasion, there were ones up for adoption that had potential, something like a Teddiursa, a Pokémon with a fairly powerful evolution.

But those took a lot of work and experience. Handling a Pokémon that wild with that kind of power was for at least semi-experienced trainers...not novices. Plus, I wanted a fire-type...

"Dude, those are expensive as hell." I heard through my earpiece.

"Well, so are your water-types!" Blondie, my friend on the other line, loved her water-types.

"Hey, not as expensive though."

"'Cause no one wants 'em..."

"Who wants something that's going to burn their house down?!"

"Me!" I could practically hear her rolling her eyes.

"Either way, neither of our budgets will get us an element Poke'. We'll probably be stuck with a Rattata or something-a Pidgey if we're lucky..." I sighed in agreement. Pokémon were way overpriced nowadays.

Generally, normal types were the cheapest, along with bugs and common fliers. Some grass too...Rarely were any dragons, psychics, darks, or ghosts sold. At least not in any common town or city. Those rarities were normally caught or bred by experts, entrepreneurs, or the government, and sold or traded in private auctions and events. All of the other types were commonly sold, but at high prices.

The fact that the professors of each region only handed out a limited amount of starters each year-once a year-didn't help the economy much. Well, not for the common folk anyway. Plus, it gave a bunch of newbies over-powered elementals they didn't know what to do with. Note that these were generally the sixteen year-old's who took the hand-outs.

Professors usually handed out rarities-elementals right off the bat! Overpowered ones at that-which was why so few were given, and usually to those who had connections or decided to show up super early. In Johto, our professor was located in New Bark, a small little desolate town where few lived.

Getting to the professor required a roundtrip ticket and some walking, but with my budget and time left to get a Pokémon, I'd be screwed. I'd have enough money-barely-to get a ticket, but it would leave me with little to nothing left for supplies or any kind of necessities at all.

Leaning back into my computer chair in defeat, I stared deadpan at the screen. "I'm really just thinking about getting some pokéballs and wandering around the Wild for a while." At least pokéballs were relatively cheap...

"Yeah, but then you have to get papers on whatever you catch, and then you'll just wind up broke anyway..." I already knew this, but I was starting to get fed up with all of this extensive searching. I had one week left to find a legitimate, registered Pokémon before my trainer's license expired.

For trainers, each newly caught Pokémon had to be registered into a globalized system located in each and every Pokémon Center within three days of the catch or else the Pokémon could be confiscated and released. As a trainer, this was automatically done when getting your Pokémon healed or stored in a PC, so it made the responsibility simpler.

Registering a Pokémon without being a 'real' trainer was very pricey. It was a solution that the government came up with to help prevent abandoned Pokémon by keeping the wannabe trainers from just going out and catching everything in sight and then leaving them to fend for themselves or to rot in their pokéballs. But more importantly it helped 'boost' the economy by forcing people who weren't trainers to have to buy an already registered Pokémon, or have them registered as adopted pets.

It was also an attempt to dwindle down the activity of the Pokémon 'black market'.

New trainers—such as myself—needed to obtain their Starter before their license expired for the first time to avoid having to purchase a new one completely. The first trainer card a newbie got was free, but after that they cost a good $50, enough to stray me away from wanting a new one. This was to prevent non-active trainers from being logged into the global database, which made sense I guessed. Why have a bunch of people who sat stagnant and did nothing with their licenses?

After that first deadline, trainers only had to get their licenses updated at a Pokémon Center every six months, and that was free and only took a matter of seconds.

All of these requirements usually brought people to question why new trainers just didn't go out and catch their starters in the wild, but considering the registration laws, it was just easier to go out and get a Pokémon that already had papers.

Newbies generally didn't search for their starters in the Wild anyway. This was mainly because the Wild was relatively dangerous for newbies, and to have a newbie going out there without any kind of protection? It was just plain stupid, even in the routes nearest to towns and cities. We were lectured well enough on that in school.

It didn't stop every hot-head of a trainer from trying though, and I was tempted to allow my own hot-headedness take the reins and throw common sense out the window.

"Well, I'm at a loss my friend. Everything I'm looking at here is either too pricey, or something I wouldn't wanna train." I grumbled, leaning forward to scroll uselessly through the list of Pokémon again. "I don't get paid for another two weeks, and my license expires in one. At least you still have two weeks left."

"Hey, everything over here in Kanto costs more than in Johto."

"Yeah, but you guys get paid more to compensate for the pricing."

"…So." Now was my turn to roll my eyes. "What about a gift Pokémon?" She questioned, though I shook my head in response, despite her being unable to see it.

"From who? I already told my parents I didn't want them to just hand me one."

"You do have something called a boyfriend, you know."

"One I don't even let pay for my dinner if we happen to go out. You know how I am with money…Plus, he says he's a greedy Jew." His own words…and no, he's not literally a Jew.

"Doesn't mean he wouldn't do it." Leaning back again, I rubbed tiredly at my eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I know he would. He would. It's just—I wouldn't ask him to. I hate people buying me shit." Which was the truth. I didn't like people spending their hard-earned cash on something for me, especially expensive things. It irritated some people, like my boyfriend, Ryan, who I wouldn't let pay for anything for me unless necessary. We'd actually gotten into a few little arguments about it when we first started dating before he realized there was no changing my mind.

Now, he didn't even really ask to pay for stuff anymore, which was fine by me. But that didn't mean he wouldn't get me something like, say, a Pokémon, if I asked. Which I wouldn't. My stubbornness—and maybe a bit of my pride—wouldn't let me… Plus, it just felt plain rude to ask for something like that. "And what about your fiancé, missy?" There was an apprehensive little pause on her end before a scoff.

"Right. I doubt he has enough to buy himself a Pokémon right now." I gave a light chuckle to ease the tension I could feel starting to build up. Her fiancé started his journey a year before us, after they'd both come to the agreement.

He longed to go out and start adventuring the world, but there was no doubt he wanted to wait for her. She wouldn't have it though. She wouldn't let him hold back a measly year to begin what he ached to go out and do, just for her. I know deep down she would have liked to have started out with him by her side, but she wasn't that selfish.

Michael wasn't exactly what one would call responsible when it came to money. He liked to spend the cash right after getting it rather than save it up, usually on things that only lasted a short period of time. This irked my friend to no end, but there wasn't much she could do about it other than nag. This usually fired up an argument between the two but nothing ever really changed.

I couldn't really talk about blowing money too much since I liked to gamble an unnecessary amount away at Goldenrod's Game Corner nearly every week…everyone has a bad habit they need to break, right...? Especially with my current Pokémon-time-limit issue.

"I'm sure he'd scrounge up enough to get you one. Mike would buy you one just as quickly as Ryan would get one for me." She hmph'd on the other end. She was just as stubborn as I was. There was a long pause between us, the only sound echoing through my earpiece being a few random clicks here and there."Well, shit." I grumbled after a minute, running out of ideas. I heard shifting on the other end and then a yawn. "What time is it there again?" I asked thoughtlessly.

"One-ish." That would be in the morning. With her being in Kanto and I in Johto, our time difference was a bit dramatic.

"Woman, go to bed, you have to work tomorrow." I paused. "Today, technically." I added as an afterthought.

"Meh. Don't you have to be at work in like an hour anyway?" I did.

I'd been on break since I usually worked a split-shift down at the Pokémon Daycare Center. I didn't feel like going back today, to be honest. I was tired from staying up so late looking eagerly at the Pokémon being sold locally and chatting with Blondie. I considered calling in and saying I felt too sick to go back, but my conscious quickly swatted the idea away.

The Daycare was owned by an elderly pair and in their old age, they could use all the help they could get. I couldn't just abandon them for the rest of the day, or the Pokémon for that matter.

I especially couldn't leave them in the faulty hands of my co-worker…but I really just wanted to hit the Game Corner.

"Gaaaah! I wish I didn't have to work. It's not like it's gonna make a difference anyway."

"Well, if you weren't so quick to blow most of it…"

"Oh, Arceus, here we go." I grumbled, eyes quickly glancing at the clock, looking for an escape. Anything to avoid another lecture… "Uh-oh, gotta go get ready. Get some rest—I'll talk to ya later!"

"Bri—"

"Love ya, bye!" I quickly cut the connection on my Pokegear and let out a sigh of relief. I loved the girl like a sister, but I didn't feel like being lectured again. I knew I shouldn't be gambling all the time, especially with my particular need of money right now…but the place was too tempting.

Besides, it wasn't like I gambled every day.

But, I would have to resist temptation for now. Taking out my earpiece and setting it on my desk, I switched off the wireless option on my Pokegear and looked to my messages just as a musical little ring sounded. Of course it was from Blondie…

'BITCH.'

I laughed and started typing up a reply as I got up to start preparing for work. All I had to do was get changed back into my work clothes.

'I love you too~!'

I set the Pokegear off to the side so I could get dressed.

And that is chapter 1. Not really much going on, but quite a bit of 'blah-blah' info being shared. Maybe too much?

Anyway, thanks for reading and I'd love to get some feedback! I'm aiming to have the second chapter out soon!